MichaelG Posted March 14, 2018 Report Share Posted March 14, 2018 Well last weekend we visited Northamptonshire to continue the search for our narrowboat. We found and made an offer on a 57 feet Heron boatbuilders narrowboat. The offer was accepted and we are now keeping our fingers crossed that the survey will be good so that we can complete the purchase. From what I have been able to find on the interweb Heron boatbuilders went out of business in 2006. The brokers details indicate the boat was made in 2006 and fitted by David Forth so I imagine it must have been amongst their last boats. I'd be interested to hear from anyone who owns or has owned a Heron boat or has any information about them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stewart Kirby Posted March 15, 2018 Report Share Posted March 15, 2018 Heron were based by the side of the Calder and Hebble canal and were building bespoke boats for about ten years. They built narrowboats and broad beams to the buyer requirements and turned out some strange looking boats. I considered buying from them and visited the factory to view their work in progress and a couple of completed boats and looked at their working practices. Everything was very professional and the build standard was high but so were the prices and I didn’t buy from them. I think that when they closed there were some incomplete boats sold for finishing off so maybe this was one of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athy Posted March 15, 2018 Report Share Posted March 15, 2018 Was that the firm run by the husband-and-wife team, Bernard and Margaret? If so, according to their adverts in the boatimags, he did the fitting-out and she took care of business - suggesting that they did not build their own shells. I don't know who did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stewart Kirby Posted March 15, 2018 Report Share Posted March 15, 2018 No, the owner was called Jon Hunt. When they folded there were 12 unfinished boats some of which were completed by Ledgard Bridge just down the river at Mirfield. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pearley Posted March 15, 2018 Report Share Posted March 15, 2018 28 minutes ago, Athy said: Was that the firm run by the husband-and-wife team, Bernard and Margaret? If so, according to their adverts in the boatimags, he did the fitting-out and she took care of business - suggesting that they did not build their own shells. I don't know who did. I think you're thinking of Triton Boats of Salford. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athy Posted March 15, 2018 Report Share Posted March 15, 2018 Just now, pearley said: I think you're thinking of Triton Boats of Salford. I did wonder if it was Heron or Triton - but I thought that Bernard and Margaret had shut down, and the internet shows that Triton still exists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo_ Posted March 15, 2018 Report Share Posted March 15, 2018 We have a Heron. Built in 2004. Two owners - we bought in 2009. Gorgeous boat! Just been for a bare-metal then up repaint at Streethay. 58' trad. I particularly love the 'sweep' of the roof line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dartagnan Posted March 15, 2018 Report Share Posted March 15, 2018 31 minutes ago, Jo_ said: We have a Heron. Built in 2004. Two owners - we bought in 2009. Gorgeous boat! Just been for a bare-metal then up repaint at Streethay. 58' trad. I particularly love the 'sweep' of the roof line. I realise it is difficult to tell from just one photo but that looks like a lovely paint job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan de Enfield Posted March 15, 2018 Report Share Posted March 15, 2018 1 minute ago, Dartagnan said: I realise it is difficult to tell from just one photo but that looks like a lovely paint job. Bootiful - I was about to say the same, until, I noticed they had forgotten to mask of the mushrooms (and they appear to have a fair bit of overspray on them) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo_ Posted March 15, 2018 Report Share Posted March 15, 2018 14 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said: Bootiful - I was about to say the same, until, I noticed they had forgotten to mask of the mushrooms (and they appear to have a fair bit of overspray on them) No. It's my photography! Mushrooms are fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan de Enfield Posted March 15, 2018 Report Share Posted March 15, 2018 3 minutes ago, Jo_ said: No. It's my photography! Mushrooms are fine In which case - beautiful paint job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athy Posted March 15, 2018 Report Share Posted March 15, 2018 Alan was just giving vent to his opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pearley Posted March 15, 2018 Report Share Posted March 15, 2018 1 hour ago, Athy said: I did wonder if it was Heron or Triton - but I thought that Bernard and Margaret had shut down, and the internet shows that Triton still exists. Pretty sure they've reserected several times. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan de Enfield Posted March 15, 2018 Report Share Posted March 15, 2018 Just now, Athy said: Alan was just giving vent to his opinion. Where do Eskimo's train their dogs ? In a Mush-room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athy Posted March 15, 2018 Report Share Posted March 15, 2018 9 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said: Where do Eskimo's train their dogs ? In a Mush-room. ...said he in a husky voice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchcrawler Posted March 15, 2018 Report Share Posted March 15, 2018 I think Bottom Lock at Braunston fitted one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisTonks Posted May 6, 2019 Report Share Posted May 6, 2019 On 15/03/2018 at 10:32, Jo_ said: We have a Heron. Built in 2004. Two owners - we bought in 2009. Gorgeous boat! Just been for a bare-metal then up repaint at Streethay. 58' trad. I particularly love the 'sweep' of the roof line. We have a 2004 Heron too, and think the world of her. We bought her in 2015 and for the past three years have been based in the Fenland waterways. We’ve had some super cruising over here but are relocating to Shropshire so heading back to the canals. Repaint is booked for 2020- we’re going the long way round! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo_ Posted May 6, 2019 Report Share Posted May 6, 2019 Nice one, Chris. If your long way round brings you up the Soar and along the T&M to Mercia Marina, come and see us! Our boats could do a recognition donut in the middle of the Marina waters! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisTonks Posted May 6, 2019 Report Share Posted May 6, 2019 6 minutes ago, Jo_ said: Nice one, Chris. If your long way round brings you up the Soar and along the T&M to Mercia Marina, come and see us! Our boats could do a recognition donut in the middle of the Marina waters! We may well do so! Mercia is where we bought Cease Firing. We see few other Heron boats. The last time was at Watford locks where there happened to be three at once, one up and two going down. Is there any sort of Heron owners group at all, do you know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo_ Posted May 6, 2019 Report Share Posted May 6, 2019 I'll DM you my mobile Chris, so you can keep in touch. As far as I know there is no Heron Owners' Group. Jo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magictime Posted May 9, 2019 Report Share Posted May 9, 2019 Not sure why this thread has risen from the grave, but it seems like this would be the time to mention that our boat is a 2003 Heron. Funnily enough, it was only because we did a search specifically for Heron boats for sale - having seen a couple of others we liked the look of - that we ever found Ferndale. (There was no set asking price, so it didn't show up when browsing Apollo Duck in our usual way.) We viewed Ferndale and another Heron boat of the same age on the same day. On the face of it they were very similar - 55ft, laid out bedroom-bathroom-dinette-galley-saloon - but the other had very low headroom towards the back, in the bedroom. No idea why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisTonks Posted August 9, 2020 Report Share Posted August 9, 2020 (edited) Hello again, I just thought I’d post a photo of the repaint referred to in my previous post. Thanks to Covid we were unable to complete our journey from East Anglia to Cheshire - we reached Northamptonshire and Cease Firing had to be loaded up to complete the trip by road. Very undignified for our lovely boat! Were very pleased with the result, thanks to Willow Boats for a beautiful job. The celebration cruise was to Llangollen. Not too busy, super trip. Edited August 9, 2020 by ChrisTonks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athy Posted August 9, 2020 Report Share Posted August 9, 2020 44 minutes ago, ChrisTonks said: Hello again, I just thought I’d post a photo of the repaint referred to in my previous post. Thanks to Covid we were unable to complete our journey from East Anglia to Cheshire - we reached Northamptonshire and Cease Firing had to be loaded up to complete the trip by road. Very undignified for our lovely boat! Were very pleased with the result, thanks to Willow Boats for a beautiful job. The celebration cruise was to Llangollen. Not too busy, super trip. What colour were the dogs before? You must have come past our house - we're by the Well Creek in Upwell. When did you go through? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisTonks Posted August 10, 2020 Report Share Posted August 10, 2020 Haha! Black - they found a very muddy ditch during one of our hikes along the towpath! We made this Llangollen trip during the last week of July. We began moving from Upware in Cambridgeshire last summer; went through Upwell at the end of June. We bought fish and chips! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen-in-Wellies Posted August 10, 2020 Report Share Posted August 10, 2020 22 hours ago, Athy said: What colour were the dogs before? You must have come past our house - we're by the Well Creek in Upwell. When did you go through? Multi coloured dogs are more expensive to paint, what with the masking and extra drying time. ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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